The Honourable Marc Miller
Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
365 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, ON K1A 1L1
Dear Minister Miller,
We understand that the ministry’s recent cap on international students is intended to address rapidly increasing numbers of international students, particularly at institutions who do not provide supports. However, we are very concerned about unintended consequences and impact of the cap.
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) is the national association of 48 denominations (representing 7000 congregations), over 80 organizations, and 32 post-secondary Christian schools. Our affiliates include more than 30 fully accredited, degree-granting Christian institutions, spanning across Canada from BC to the Maritimes. These well-established institutions have operated for decades and in some cases over 100 years, with the earliest founded in the 1800s.
A number of the EFC’s affiliate schools may be adversely affected by the cap on study permits for international students.
These institutions provide significant personal and academic support to their international student population. Most provide on-campus housing as well. The schools focus on fostering relationships and incorporating students into community life and are able to maintain a sustainable intake of international students.
Many of these institutions provide theological training, preparing individuals to fill positions as pastors and other religious professionals. There is a significant and growing shortage of pastors in Canada. Graduates from Canadian theological training institutions generally complete their programs having learned about and adapted to Canadian culture making them ideal candidates to help alleviate this leadership deficit.
We ask that you exempt students who are preparing for church ministry from these restrictions.
Many evangelical Christians in Canada are newcomers to Canada. One in four evangelicals in Canada were born outside Canada and are part of visible minority communities. Many evangelical denominations were and are being established by waves of new immigrants. In some denominations, a substantial majority of their adherents were born outside of Canada. It is our joy and privilege to have international students from around the globe studying in Christian higher education institutions in Canada. These are valued members of our communities.
We note also that there has also been a close relationship across the Canada-US border between some denominations and the institutions that train their clergy. Some of these institutions were established by denominations that span Canada and the US to serve constituents across North America. The cap on international students doesn’t distinguish between students from our closest neighbour and trading partner and other jurisdictions. We ask that you maintain the previous process to apply for a study permit for US students and allow them to enter and study as before.
The cap as currently set out will cause undue hardship for some long-established, supportive educational institutions that meet a specialized need. Moreover, in some cases, these restrictions on international students will affect the viability of some programs that also serve domestic students further exacerbating the shortage of clergy. We ask you to incorporate these exemptions.
Sincerely,
David Guretzki
President and CEO
Author:
David Guretzki